By Anna Skinner
Following World War I, Quaker churches across the nation secretly provided aid to women and children suffering in Germany. Overall, one million children were aided by churches that provided money and help through the American Friends Service Committee. Many of the children from World War I and World War II sent thank you letters and artwork to the churches that assisted them after the wars. Indianapolis First Friends was one of those recipients.
Nichole Mathews, a German teacher at Hamilton Southeastern High School, was entrusted the documents by Jenny Banker, wife of the then-pastor Stan Banker of First Friends. Some of the documents included artwork from the two wars created by children, which Mathews worked to have displayed in an exhibit titled “Giving Voices to Ghosts” at Marian University Art Gallery, 3200 Cold Springs Rd., Indianapolis, through Oct. 7. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
“It was this humongous art portfolio of 70 different things like telegrams and letters, some official letters and some thank you letters,” Mathews said. “It had pamphlets saying ‘Please help the children’ with pictures of starving kids, and then there was the artwork, which is what’s going to be displayed. My original plan was to have my (students) translate all this.”
Mathews’ students in her German honors and advanced placement classes began translating the letters, poetry and artwork, and she double-checked their work last year. Crystal Vicars-Pugh, the Marian University Art Gallery director, agreed to exhibit the work at the gallery.
“The Marian University Art Gallery has enjoyed hosting ‘Giving Voices to Ghosts,’ a historical exhibit of German artifacts that reflect on kindness and gratitude of others,” Vicars-Pugh said. “’Giving Voices to Ghosts’ has been an amazing community collaboration and would not be possible without the generous funding of the Talbot Street Art Fair Grant. GVTG has allowed for the Marian University Art Gallery to bring community awareness to the Quaker organization (and) American Friends Service Committee for their help providing food to orphaned children in post-world wars Germany. My future hope for ‘Giving Voices to Ghosts’ is for it to become a traveling exhibition allowing various opportunities for community engagement with these priceless artifacts.”
An opening reception for the exhibit was held Sept. 1.
“It’s a shame it was just in this big folder, so I was going to try to get it into correct boxes … translated and digitized,” Mathews said. “(Vicars-Pugh) saw them and was really thrilled about it, so for the past year and half or so we have been working to get the translation done.”
On Sept. 29, Mathews and her students will visit Marian University to see their translation work displayed in the gallery. In addition to the field trip, a conservationist from the Indiana State Museum will come to Mathews’ class to speak with the students.
For more, visit https://www.marian.edu/calendar/event-details/2016/08/29/main-calendar/giving-voices-to-ghosts-art-exhibit.
Launching Inquiries grant
In order to bring her students to the Marian University Art Gallery to see the work they completed in translating thank you letters, artwork, poetry, and more, professionally displayed, as well as allowing for an Indiana State Museum conservationist to speak to her class, Hamilton Southeastern German teacher Nichole Mathews received a $684.52 Launching Inquiries grant. The grant also provides materials to archive the collection instead of storing it in a folder. The conservation materials include white gloves, acid-free paper and boxes.
Marian University also approved funds to allow for the framing of some materials.
Mathews said when the exhibit is finished, she hopes to return the framed and conserved work to First Friends of Indianapolis, and also possibly donate items to the Athenaeum Foundation, 407 E. Michigan St., Indianapolis.
